Had a photoshoot with this car this morning. The car is owned by XSSSIVE here on F-Chat. High-res: http://www.flickr.com/photos/folkphotography/6783384084/ -Gil Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here's another. High-res: http://www.flickr.com/photos/folkphotography/6932089533/ -Gil Image Unavailable, Please Login
iPhone photos of my Silverstone/Nero. Warm tone is the result of warm tungsten lighting in the showroom. Last couple of pics show custom subwoofer installation (blocks the pass-through access), and upgraded front component speakers (indistinguishable from OEM). Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
A few pictures of our California we received last week. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yep. Super to deal with. I had a trade-in, and some work done on the car prior to delivery using third party vendors (for stereo work, radar detection and protective film), and they made it seamless and easy.
Sweet! JoeK, on the next drive, Darryl is buying! 8^) SV Am doing a Laguna Seca track day this Friday. Going to take the Aston down!
Two questions: Did your car come with the cargo net or was that an add-on, and what do you think it would cost just to upgrade the front speakers?
The car did not come with a cargo net. If you don't mind the BMW tag on it, you can get one from a BMW parts dept. for an e46 3 series convertible and it fits perfectly. The front speakers (Audison Voce AV K6 6.5" components) are ~$750 a set. I don't know if the OEM electronics will drive them well or not. Mine are driven by an add-on Alpine 100w (x4) amp (which also drives the subwoofer). Installation labor is additional. Audison speakers are a natural for a Ferrari, as they are ... Italian! [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOuCkPFgyLE[/ame] FWIW, no car stereo is anywhere near home quality, so I don't bother trying to get there. What I wanted (and got) is a decent-sounding system that allows me to enjoy clear sound with ample bass and no discernible distortion, even with the top down and road and exhaust noise to contend with. The system I have does that for less than the cost of the OEM hi-fi upgrade. Perhaps not surprising because of the California's mission as a GT, I actually cared about stereo upgrades in this car though I hadn't cared about that in a Ferrari before.
Took my California on a trackday recently. Got very bad tyre wear, particularly on the front. Anyway here is a picture of the car in action. Image Unavailable, Please Login
+1. I like how you can see the weight is off the left front wheel. Did the body roll feel excessive on that turn?
A few more... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Unfortunately, due to the noise restrictions at the circuit I could only use comfort mode. This meant the suspension was softer and the car felt a little soft. There was a professional photographer at the circuit so I purchased all the pictures of my car. So, I do have some more pictures if you are interested.
I see all of these perfect Californias in beautiful settings. Here is mine yesterday, in front of the office after a thunderstorm. Complete with winter wheels and Sottozeros. I am getting closer to putting the summer tires with the star wheels back on. It is a little hard to see the beaded water on the month old wax job. Rick Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here are some more track day pictures. I hope you enjoy them: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Which circuit is it if you don't mind me asking? I have to be honest I would never take my car to a track day if I had to leave it in comfort mode :-( Great pic though!
The track was Bedford Autodrome in the UK. Most circuits have a noise limit and Bedford have a static at 101dB and a drive by of 87.5dB. In comfort the California was 99dB static and was ok on the drive by. In sport the static was 126dB and I was told that this would almost definitely be over the drive by limit. At Bedford you get a 1 strike and you are out situation, however they seem to give some cars another chance if they go over the limit later on in the day if they have been running under the noise limits in the morning. I have an in car video here: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTJt9uBwrGY[/ame]
Noise limits are common. At my favorite "local" track, Laguna Seca, most events have a drive-by limit of 92db. To avoid exceeding this limit, the Porsche guys plug their vacuum vents so that the secondary flaps to the exhaust never open up. http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/gt2-and-gt3/562315-pass-laguna-seca-sound-limit-in-3-2-seconds.html BTW, thanks for posting about the noise differences between comfort and sport. I never really noticed there was a difference! I don't know if our cars work the same way but hopefully someone more motivated than me will figure it out and post (I plan to use a different car for track events; the CCBs on Californias are too pricey for me to have to replace them early due to track use, even though ironically they were of course intended for track use because they don't fade with repeated heavy use - a lot of track hound 430 owners I know feel the same way and have converted over to "old school" steel rotors so they can enjoy their sport more economically). Great pics and vid. I saw the black finish you applied to your wheels in another thread and I think they look great, matching the Nero paint on your car and all. Fortunately for me, the stock color on the diamond finish 20" wheels already matches my Grigio Silverstone car.